Faculty Psychology, a point of view that
conceived of the human mind as consisting of separate powers or faculties, was,
perhaps, the most widely accepted concept of learning during much of the 19th century.
Formulated by Christian von
Wolff in 1734 and later
Franz Gall (who is
best know for his belief in the localization of mental functions) as well as
Thomas
Reid, this doctrine viewed the mind as a
separate entity from the physical body. The most popular form of this theory held that the
mind consisted of three separate powers: the will, the emotions, and the intellect (Rippa,
1971).

According to this model, the mind (and particularly the
intellect) was considered somewhat analogous to a muscle, and the role of education was to
exercise and strengthen the intellect to the point where it could control the will and
emotions. The corresponding educational model, called "mental discipline," held
that the best way to strengthen the minds of younger students was through tedious drill
and repetition of what we might now call the basic skills in order to cultivate the
memory. For older students, the curriculum focused on the study of abstract subjects such
as classical philosophy, literature, and languages, as well as advanced mathematics. As
Rippa (1971) noted, "A mind so sharpened and so stored with knowledge was believed
ready for any calling; indeed, it was considered 'trained' and equipped for life. Thus...
transfer of training resulted from sharpening the 'faculties' or powers of the mind,
instead of from the specific benefits derived from a particular subject or method of
study" (208).

In the late 19th century, new viewpoints, particularly that of the
American psychologist William James,
began to challenge faculty psychology (Thayer, 1965), and two highly publicized studies
conducted by James' student Edward Thorndike
discredited the concepts of mental discipline and transfer of training (Rippa, 1971).
Though the methodology of these studies may have been questionable (Rosenblatt, 1967),
their results were, never the less, widely accepted. Thus, faculty psychology slowly fell
out of favor and was replaced by Thorndike's Connectionism.
However, the vestiges of faculty psychology remain, even today, in the form of persistent
beliefs that abstract and esoteric subjects are of value simply because they "sharpen
the mind."